What was I thinking? My BRG scrapyard dodger.
Jan 2, 2018 23:04:40 GMT
atlex, FFS Corders, and 2 more like this
Post by moro on Jan 2, 2018 23:04:40 GMT
Ey up! You might've seen my currently hibernated touge roadster project on here previously. It's alive and more or less well but a bit far away from me now as feeling generally bored and looking for a good pint, this summer I've found myself settled in Yorkshire of all places1. Having sorted myself with a practical and sensible car, namely 53 plate Tailgate McNoIndicate Mini Cooper S (take a guess who to blame for the idea, two hints - he likes his Minis and he founded this forum) I've of course soon developed an itch for something that would keep me busy in the garage2. With a rational level headed approach I've set out to find a good 5 that would match my preferences - it should be Mk1, have 1.8 drivetrain and be finished in BRG/tan combo and so I immediately bought the first snotter off ebay that matched this description3, then proceeded to catch the first train to Shropshire hills to collect it. Picturesque snowy landscapes out the window lulled me into the beautiful dreams of open top motoring and riders and horses as one (eh?) but the first sight of the car brought me back to prosaic reality. The car was indeed green and the interior was indeed tan and it was 1.8 with LSD so technically I couldn't challenge myself in court. However the roof and seats were ruined (this was expected), there was some bad lacquer peeling and bubbling on driver's side rear arch (this was partly expected), the underside, though solid, was covered in underseal of lovely red hue, passenger door card was torn, judging by its looks, when transporting wild animals (this wasn't expected) and generally the car was desperately screaming for some love4.
Okay, to be fair, it was a a Japanese import with a stack of papers dating back to 2005 when it came here, with only 3 mature owners, no scene mods and solid underside. Along these lines was I comforting myself as I've won the auction anyway and there was no way back. Or indeed there was, as I've now needed to drive 150 miles back home. On summer tyres, when it was snowing for 2 days straight5. Helpfully, phone satnav took me on 40 miles of untreated B-roads to avoid motorway road chaos in the east. Shortly I've found out that original factory fit radio was stuck on volume level of 41, also known as ear bleedingly loud and that Japanese imports come with indicator and wiper stalks mixed up, so I was cheerily greeting everyone at each roundabout with a swing of the wipers. A very slow swing, as the wiper mechanism was obviously borked. But what mattered most, it was bloody fun. It was so good to throw the car into corners, beautifully balanced, and steering it out with the right foot, limited slip diff helping to keep the car on the line. In the last 8 months my life has changed dramatically and I kind of lost all the reference points, it was all so different, and I've almost forgot how good these cars are but now it was coming back to me. It was good.
I got back home and went to sleep. In the morning, with a cup of coffee I got out to take another look at the car. It didn't look so bad. Was I just accepting the fact it's here anyway, or was it just the sunshine but it looks it should be alright.
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Okay, to be fair, it was a a Japanese import with a stack of papers dating back to 2005 when it came here, with only 3 mature owners, no scene mods and solid underside. Along these lines was I comforting myself as I've won the auction anyway and there was no way back. Or indeed there was, as I've now needed to drive 150 miles back home. On summer tyres, when it was snowing for 2 days straight5. Helpfully, phone satnav took me on 40 miles of untreated B-roads to avoid motorway road chaos in the east. Shortly I've found out that original factory fit radio was stuck on volume level of 41, also known as ear bleedingly loud and that Japanese imports come with indicator and wiper stalks mixed up, so I was cheerily greeting everyone at each roundabout with a swing of the wipers. A very slow swing, as the wiper mechanism was obviously borked. But what mattered most, it was bloody fun. It was so good to throw the car into corners, beautifully balanced, and steering it out with the right foot, limited slip diff helping to keep the car on the line. In the last 8 months my life has changed dramatically and I kind of lost all the reference points, it was all so different, and I've almost forgot how good these cars are but now it was coming back to me. It was good.
I got back home and went to sleep. In the morning, with a cup of coffee I got out to take another look at the car. It didn't look so bad. Was I just accepting the fact it's here anyway, or was it just the sunshine but it looks it should be alright.
1 see title
2 see title
3 see title
4 see title
5 see title
le sigh